Improvement in electrotype printing-blocks



UNITED STATES i PATENT OFFICEo THOMAS CROSSLEY, OF ROCKYILIJE, CONNECTICUT.

IMPROVEMENT IN ELECTROTYPE PRINTING-BLOCKS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 25,953, dated November 1, 1859.

To all whom it may concern,.-

Be it known that I, THoMAs CRossLEY, of Rockville,in the county of Tollaud and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvementin Electrotype Printing- Bloeks for Printing Fibrousand Textile Fabrics; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the construction and operation of the same and of the difference between it and what has been previously known and used, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, makinga part of this specification, in which- Figure l represents a view of the face ot one of my electrotyped blocks, and Fig. 2 represents a section through it at the red line a: of Figi After much experience and expense in printing textile fabrics with wooden and other soft-material blocks I ascertained their insufficiency and turned my attention toward discovering something that would obviate the objection that attaches to such blocks. The

cost of wooden blocks, their liability to be broken and damaged, their tendency to swell and shrink unevenly, and, above all, theirinvariably printing lines wider than the facelines of the block make them highly objectionable; and attempts have been made to substitute gutta-percha blocks for the wooden ones; but these latter also fail, as they have not t-he proper consistency to withstand the printing operation. They resist moisture anddo not swell, shrink, or warp unevenly; but they do not answer a good purpose. Metal and metal blocks of course possess all the elements that would be required. They are strong, durable, do not swell, shrink, or warp, and can retain sharp lines. But how could they be made cheap enough to be used economically? They must possess other elements than mere hardness of material. The face must have great height above the back, so that the portion of the textile fabric that was not to be printed upon might not be touched or soiled, while the face that carried the coloring-matter might be pressed well down into the fabric. There must be room and space for the confined air to pass intoin these blocks also; and, moreover, with the great height that they must possess, they must still be light enough to be operated easily. Blocks requiring these elements could not be engraved, ow-

ing to the great cost. Could they be cast? No. The sides of the raised face or portion of the block must be perpendicular, else the impression given by them would be of greater surface than the-figure on the block, as the face of the block must go far down into the fabric, and if it had inclined sides (which cast plates would of necessity have7 as they could nototherwise be drawn from themoiding-sand) they would widen the igu re the deeper they go and blur the margins of the figures to be printed on the fabric, instead of leaving them sharp and clean. Besides,if the sides of the raised figure were inclined (as in casting they would have to be) the coloring-matter, which is only to be held on the blocks by capillary attraction, Would run down upon these inclined sides in some piaces, or with some colors, more than others, and there would be no certainty ot' getting proper shades. They could not then be cast, for these reasons alone, if no others existed. Could they be made by the electrotype process? This seemed to be the most reasonable idea, and I-iminediately went to work to experiment; but on stating the conditions that were imperative in the construction of the block-viz., its great height of printing-surface above the base and the perpendicular sides to the raised portions--I was informed by the best and most experienced eleetrotypists in the country that it was iinpossible to make such a block by electrotyping, because the mold would be so delicate and it would have to be inserted so far into the wax to form the matrix that its perpendicular sides would prevent its being withdrawn without destroying the matrix; and, moreover, I was told that if even the matrix could be made `its deep cells could not be covered by the deposit of metal therein with any certainty. Not familiar with the art of electrotyping I was discouraged, but not disheartened. In the face of all obstacles and imagined ilnpossibilities I began a series of experiments which have resulted in entire success, aud I allege that I have not only produced a valuable invention, but in doing so I have also shown that what was deemed impossible in the formation of the electrotypeblock I have successfully shown and proven to be entirely feasible, and by stating the difficulties which I had to encounter in arriving at my object I conclusively show that I have made an invention-a discovery hitherto unknown and deemed impracticable by many.

The making of the mold by setting up into a form a series of plain-faced, rectangular, and perpendicular-sided type of several heights is no part of this invention, though I use the type for this purpose; but I am the rst to make an electrotype printing-block for printing textile fabrics with high-raised printing faces or surfaces and perpendicular sides, andI am the firstto print a textile fabric with a metal block, simply because no one before me ever could construct a metal block that would so print a cloth or fabric.A Engraved blocks or cylinders, letter-press, types of letters of wood or metal, or embossing are qnitedifferentthings from what I use in printing carpets, velvets, or other piled cloths. They have neither the height nor the perpendicular sides that my blocks have and must have. They are stamped upon paper, leather, or some other hard firm substance, but do not carry heavy colors and stamp them into the fabric as I do. All type have inclined sides. All engravings have inclined sides. All type and engravings have irregular surfaces made up of curved and straight lines, points, the. My blocks and the type from which the matrix is made are plainfaced and all rectangular in design and perpendicular-sided.

It maybe proper to define what I mean by raised faces and perpendicular sides thereto. By raised faces I mean that the part or parts of the block which receive the coloring-matter must be high enough above the base to allow the face to press into the fabric the colors, while the part of the fabric that is not to be printed upon shall not be t-ouched or soiled,and this, too, with the various colors used in printing-as, for instance, with a red color the block is dipped into it twice the depth that it is into a green, and hence the blocks should have depth enough for such colors as are carried in the greatest quantity. Someallowance, too, must be made for the escape or dispersion of the air in the cells of the block. By perpendicular sides I mean such sides as will hold the coloringmatter by capillary attraction when inverted and prevent it from flowing down to or on the face of the mold, which it will do when there is an inclination of the sides, such as all type have. I do not of course mean mathematically but practically perpendicular, for an imperceptible inclination of the sides might be made, just enough so as to evade my invention, if so restricted.

My invention,therefore, consists in the production of an electrotype printing-block having a plain face whose margins are of metal and body of felt, or its equivalent, and highly raised above its base and having perpendicular sides, as herein stated.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the process of making the same, referring to the drawings for illustration thereof.

The design that is to be rprinted upon the fabric having been previously prepared, I take plain-faced rectangular type of three or more different heights, the longest, however, forming what I term the face, or that which carries the coloring-matter and set up a mold corresponding with the design. The type may be of wood; but I prefer them of metal, for reasons hereinafter mentioned. I then prepare the wax from which the matrix is to bemade. This wax is heated to a temperature of about from 90O to 100o Fahrenheit, which slightly softens it. The mold is then pressed or driven into the wax, said mold being of less temperature than the wax and previously dusted with plumbago. The mold is allowed to remain in the wax until both have the same temperature, which will be less than that of the wax before the mold is inserted into it. The cooling of the wax causes it to contract and slightly leave the mold, which is then carefully withdrawn. To insert and withdraw the mold, I use a screw set in a frame so that it cannot move laterally, but in a true plane, and thus not injure the walls or sharp edges of the matrix. I thus procure a perfect matrix with very deep cells in it. I then with a delicate brush dust the bottoms, tops, and sides of the cells or depressions with plumbago and place the matrix in the battery and precipitate the metal upon it in the usual way of electrotyping, and produce a thin fac-simile in reverse of the matrix in copper or other metal, into the back of which is run type or other suitable strengthening metal, and this is then fastened to a wooden block or back and is ready to be used for printing with. The printing-block so produced is plain-faced. The face is highly raised above the base, and the sides of the printing-faces are perpendicular to the faces of them. Such a block, it is alleged, has never heretofore been produced by the electrotype process, andas proof of its .value I state that, while a wooden block will not print more than iive thousand yards of fabric before it is worn out, my electroplate or electrotype blocks have printed over fifty thousand yards of fabric Without Wearin g out or indeed showing any injurious wear at all.

The blocks are made in sections, and as I use them they are arranged on a platen, so as to present a form of about sixty by thirty inches; but I know no reason why they may not be extended to two, three, or more yards in length, while with Wooden blocks such a thing would be impracticable, owing to their unequal swelling, shrinking, and warping. A cylindrical form may be thus made up of sections prepared in the same manner as the flat blocks and advantageously used in printing certain fabrics which are now printed by engraved o-r embossed cylinders, and other fabrics which are required to be printed with blocks by hand may with my clinders be printed by machinery.

A represents the face of the printing-block, the marginal red line in Fig. i2 showing the electrotyped surface.

b represents the type or strengthening metal run onto theback of the electroplate to give it the requisite firmness to withstand the work to which it is applied.

B is a Wooden block or back to which the printing plate or block is attached. There are three different heights ot' type used in forming this block, as herein represented-viz., those c CZ e. Those c are of the greatest height, and their faces form the figure to be stamped or printed on the fabric. Those d are of less length than the ones c and form, as it were, a depression in the face of the block, which depression is afterward filled with felt clot-h c or other suitable material that will carry more color than the metal will carry, that part of the block printing the ground of the figure. The third kind e are still shorter and form the base of the block.

The type are all rectangular and square or oblong, and any figure or pattern drawn upon right-lined paper may be set up with such type; but myinvention is not limited to the shape of the type, except as to height and perpendicular sides, for the objects heretofore mentioned.

Having thus fully described the nature and object of my invention, what I claim therein as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-` An electrotype printing-block for printing fibrous and textile fabrics, which is prepared from a mold formed of at least three different lengths of type, as represented at c d e, so as to have a highly-raised printing-face coinposed of metal margins surrounding a felt or other equivalent ductile or plastic substance to lift and carry the color, substantially as herein represented.

THOMAS CROSSLEY.

Witnesses:

A. B. SToUGH'roN, Trios. H. UPPERMAN-- 

